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With growth and profit margins under the pump, there is enormous pressure on older partners to step aside and make room for young blood.

While there’s a certain cachet to making partner by 30, a surprisingly high number of new partners feel discriminated against because of their youth.

“Breaking down stereotypes – that grey hair correlates to the ability of an audit partner to deliver a high level of service, for example – is challenging," said Duane Rogers, 29, Grant Thornton’s youngest new partner.

At least half of the newcomers had no ambition to make partner when they started out. “I’ve never been that focused on the people above me," KPMG’s youngest new partner, Matthew McCarron, said.

Others were more calculating. Offered a choice between business services and wealth management, Mr Giddy chose the latter because it was a boom sector. After the global financial crisis hit, that game plan looked less certain.

But financial planning remains a growth engine at small and mid-market accounting firms, despite the lower levels of activity. When Crowe Horwath’s head of wealth planning in Sydney, Nigel Baker, quit, Mr Giddy was promoted to lead the division.

Mr McCarron said diversifying away from big audits into mergers & acquisitions support increased his prospects of making partner. “Exposure to different types of clients and services makes you more adaptable to move where the demand is," he said.

PwC’s youngest new partner (tax and legal), Robert Hines, said mentors are important. “The guidance from my mentors has been invaluable. Also being a mentor really helped me."